Las Cucarachas

La semana pasada enseñé una clase de yoga muy atípica. Mi estudiante, Geetesh, trajo a un amigo que necesitaba audífonos para oír. Entonces tuve dos estudiantes que no podían oír bien y tengo un voz muy suave. Siempre me olvidaba de usar una voz fuerte. El nuevo estudiante se llamaba Sammy y él nunca había  hecho yoga. Fue muy buena práctica para mi porque hábia sido un año desde que enseñé A un estudiante que nunca había hecho yoga. 

Al principio los estudiantes me siguieron bien pero a mitad de la clase una señora y su hija pequeña entraron. Su hija tenía unos cinco años Y ella se mantenía tranquila por diez minutos. Después de diez minutos ella decidío que no quise hacer yoga y empezó a jugar cerca de su mama, en el espacio entre la ventana y la puerta. Fue muy mono pero distraía uno poco porque ella echaba una ojeada a su mamá a veces. 

¡De pronto, una cucaracha! La cucaracha estaba enfrente de la señora y ella gritó - ¡Cucaracha! Ella estuvo riendo y gritando - !Cucaracha, cucaracha, cucaracha! Estuve riendo tambien y Brandon se levantó de su pose para coger la cucaracha. Cinco minutos más tarde una otra cucaracha aparecío encima de un bloque. Recogí el bloque con la cucaracha y se quitó de encima después de un rato afuera. ¡Ay! 

Fue una clase muy atípica, divertida y un poco estresante. Pero en días como esa, hay que mantenerse en los dedos de los pies. 

Gratitude

Thursday class at Heal One World was small. Only two of my regulars showed up. Actually I think it has been dwindling over the past month. I try not to think about the numbers because you never know whats going on in another persons life, so you can't expect people to always show up at your class. Taking it personally is kind of silly because it never has anything to do with you, but nevertheless you still feel a little sad that you don't get to see someone that week.

Anyway I put together a slow class and since there were only two I tried to really watch them and adjust or correct their movements. At the end of class I thanked them for coming and got to talking with Norma, a small hispanic woman who takes care of 3 boys and her hubby. She was telling me that the teacher on Fridays is crazy hard and that she'll run away if she sees her again. Haha. Norma started coming to my class (and I think one class a day) a few months ago because her doctor recommended it. At the end of class today she expressed all her changes and gratitude. She has no more back pain. She used to have to visit the doctor frequently for one thing or the other, but she doesn't have to go anymore. The most interesting thing she said was she doesn't get angry easily anymore. She's calmer and happier and feels better every day.

So that made me feel like if there were only one person in class every week, then it would still be worth it.

Enseñando y escribiendo

Last night I was teaching yoga and three older Latin ladies walked into class. They were little and seemed nice and they planted their mats in a row like best friends. It was great, but it soon became obvious that they spoke very little English. They weren´t following my cues and often looked at me to see what I was doing. One of them seemed to follow better and so she was kind of the relay point between me and the other two. I had started about 30 minutes prior to their arrival because we had changed the class time a few months ago. I had never seen them before so I think they were still used to the old time. Anyway there was no way I would be able to start using Spanish. I´ve hardly begun to grasp the tenses let alone translate yoga cues into Spanish after I had been teaching for 30 minutes. But it really made me want to work on becoming fluent. Knowing another language opens you up to so much more. If I could I would learn them all.

But alas, I can only learn one at a time. So now I´ve promised myself that I will be translating my blog posts to Spanish as best I can just for my own benefit. If you see a mistake please let me know! Don´t worry if you don´t know Spanish there will be no difference in content compared to the English version. But if you feel the need, there is always google translate.

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Anoche estaba enseñando yoga cuando tres mayores mujeres llegaron a mi clase. Ellas pusieron sus tapetitos de yoga en una línea como amigas mejores. Que linda, pero fue muy obvio que ellas no hablan inglés. Ellas no me comprendían y miraban a mi mucho. Quise que usar español pero llegaron treinta minutos tarde y usando español habría muy difícil. No fue posible. Después de les encontré, yo quise hablar con fluido. En lo sucesivo, yo voy a traducir mis notas para practicar español. Sabiendo otro idioma te das muchas oportunidades. Sí es posible, yo aprenderá todos los idiomas. Entonces, Este es mi primer nota en español!

Personal Practice

I've been teaching for a few weeks now and have slowly come to realize how much I've forgotten what it's like to be a beginner. I thought since it was only 3 years ago and that I have a "pretty" good memory I would understand, but I don't think I do anymore. It's not a bad thing. I just need to gain this perspective back in a different way so that I can help my students better.

Anyway on days I don't have students I try to run through the sequences that I put together in order to adjust and make them better. In the process I'll incorporate it as a real practice. It has made me realize how much I've grown and advanced as a yogi. It's funny because I didn't really grasp that as I was going through the training.

I'm glad I've gained the skill to really cultivate my own practice. But now my ambitious self is asking, "so what's next?" Sometimes I want it to shut up and be content.

First Teach

Thursday night was my first time teaching a real yoga class. I signed up to teach for free at Heal One World. This non-profit organization works to promote natural and holistic healing through wellness and physical health. They offer free yoga every night of the week as well as nutrition counseling and various other services.

I had one student. Haha. It was great because it was someone who had been doing yoga but still needed to work on basic technique. I got there 30 mins early so I had time to work on my sequence. It was also my first time doing yoga on my own. I prefer a classroom environment to motivate me through the harder poses but I guess I should accept that I'm capable enough to do my own practice now. That's what I've trained for right?

Anyway I'm glad I taught. It was the first time I really put myself out of my comfort zone in a long while. The fear and anxiety were pretty unfamiliar.

I need to do more fearful things.

Last Class

Our last Teacher Training class was Sunday. No more long afternoons doing yoga. I'm glad and sad at the same time. I'm excited to have free weekends to get into new things, but I know I'll miss my friends. For a while I was pretty insecure about teaching, but after Sunday I feel pretty good. We each had to teach for 10 minutes for our final exam. My teach went really well and I'm happy with where I am. Ally offered up a 300 HR for next year. I think I'll sign up and also sign up for assisting Charlie or Ally at the studio.

It's funny because a few weeks ago I was ready to not do yoga for about 2 weeks, but I don't think I'll be able to manage that. I kind of want to go to class already and it's only been 2 days. 

In other news I've signed up to teach for free at a Heal One World studio on Pico and Arlington. It's a charity that believes in natural healing. www.healoneworld.com It'll be a small class so I think it's a good start for a beginner like me. The hard part will be that they are really new to yoga, but this is what I wanted. Eventually I think all I want to do is teach beginners so that I can continually introduce people to yoga. 

It has been a really long 3 months. Glad to be moving on. 

Stress relief, Ashtanga, Yoga Wedge

The past week was gradually increasing in stress and worry, but for some magical reason after Yoga on Thursday I felt loads better. Well it probably wasn't magical. Haha. What I first loved about yoga was that the practice always helped me let go of things like stress and worry. Stress can manifest itself physically in parts of the body. Most people hold stress in their shoulders so when you stretch and relieve that stress it makes you feel better. Anyway I guess something opened up and I let go of a lot of stress and just remembered that I am where I want to be in life. Not gonna lie it was also a lot of talking to friends and having their support get me through the day, so I will say it was both.

Friday night we did a whole class on assisting in poses and hands on adjustments. It was a lot of fun as we worked out the adjustments on each other. There are some pretty funky things you can do for people.

The Saturday class was an Ashtanga Yoga class. I am a big fan of this variation of Yoga. The difference here is that there are only 4 series. In vinyasa flow a teacher can put together their own sequence so the variation in classes in infinite. In Ashtanga it is set. I think the idea is that once you memorize the series you can have your own practice without the help of a teacher. The series is created to improve strength, flexibility, and balance for all parts of the body. Unlike vinayasa which can focus classes in any one area: hip opening, forward folds, side stretching, etc. We did the Primary series which took us 3 hrs because our instructor gave a lot of detail. Usually it would take a single person 2 hours to go through the entire sequence once. It was awesome and nuts. I like it because I feel more balanced after the class. If you think regular vinyasa is a full body work out, then give Ashtanga a try.

What was also great this weekend was that I started jumping into my chaturangas. So rewind. Mid summer I developed carpal tunnel syndrome in my hands. I stopped doing Yoga to give it a break, but it wasn't quite 100% back to normal when I started the training. So my instructors told me to get a wedge. You use it for any pose where you lay your hands flat like down dog. It takes most of the weight off your wrists and strengthens your hands. The entire length of the training I have been using this, and modifying all my poses to put little to no stress on my wrists. I'm doing much better and for most of the Ashtanga class I was able to forego the wedge completely and jump into my chaturangas. It felt glorious. Imagine if you had surgery on your leg and had to play your favorite sport at 70% for 3 months. The day you get back and feel 100% is a glorious feeling.

Everything is glorious!

Life Update

These past 3 days I didn't have any teacher training sessions. Fortunately it was the same weekend as Thanksgiving so I had plenty of events to fill my time. It was a slew of hanging out with friends, family, and eating. So much eating. I definitely broke the vege code more than a few times and I'm surprised I don't feel more bloated than I do right now. I was also able to get some new clothes and such from the holiday sales.

But the yoga hiatus was much needed. I am not a person that can do something so often voluntarily. As much as I love cycling I usually take a few months off per year because I'm sick of doing it once or twice a week. Also I usually like to explore various teachers to keep my yoga intellectually stimulating, but I'm finding that it's harder to focus in Ally and Charlie's classes because I'm so used to their cues and nuances now. I can predict what I will hear and zone out for a few seconds here and there. Not good for my practice.

Anyway this Saturday is an Ashtanga practice which should be fun and then only three more weeks of yoga left. Three more weeks. Change is good.

All the Sides of Yoga

In class we are working more towards defining the different sides of Yoga. Asana is the sanskrit word for poses and postures. Pranayama is the breath. These two pillars of yoga form the modern yoga we see in most studios. Technically there are 8 pillars. The others are Yama or ethical discipline, Niyama or individual discipline, Pratyahara or withdrawl of the senses, Dharana or concentration, Dhyana or meditation, and Samadhi or enlightenment. In the path of Yoga you start with Yama and build your practice upon each pillar sequentially with Asana and Pranayama coming after Niyama. As you build upon each pillar, the others strengthen as a result.

In my case I learned and practiced the social and individual ethics and morals already. I had kind of reached a plateau and tabled my spiritual practice. When I started doing yoga I didn't feel more spiritual per say, but it helped me work on related disciplines like self awareness and focus. Most of all it helped me let go of my inner critic. I mean she still pops up ever now and then. I can't help it, but the voice is quieter and less frequent. Letting go of self criticisms helped me stay true to myself. If you don't judge yourself then you also worry less about what others think of you. As a result you can really learn about yourself and figure out what you need. 

That's what I really love about yoga. Each person is urged to focus on their own path. There isn't a collective group moving together but instead individuals who share the same ideals but walk their own paths. There is no judgement but mostly understanding and respect because everyone is unique. 

For me, being able to let go of judgement has been the best thing that has ever happened to me. Growing up in a world full of comparing, judging and high expectations was wildly stressful and unhappy. Today I hardly think about it because I just let it go. It was what it was, but today is today. My past does not weigh me down and I walk forward each day. 

With this personal movement I think I'll naturally move onto the next pillars (concentration and meditation). Not really because I want to reach enlightenment but because I want to find focus and peacefulness without having to perform the physical practice of yoga. Yoga is very much a positive escape or mini vacation from the pressures of the world. If I can do it in my own room I will be happier. 

Do I believe in enlightenment? I don't know. To me it sounds too idealistic. I don't want to be so drawn within myself that I am shutting out the rest of the world. There is too much going on for me to want to become secluded. I think that is almost selfish. It would be such a waste if I decided to become a monk or yogi and only work on my path to enlightenment 24/7. 

Besides I don't think I will ever reach a point where I am so perfect or free of fault. I will always make mistakes, and I will always be connected to my emotions. I am only human. 

Teaching is great

Today in class we group taught a 90 minute yoga practice. So the instructors wrote out a whole sequence and we drew numbers to see who would teach which pose. We spent the whole time rotating in and out of teaching and taking the class. It was interesting because we all had to be mentally engaged as well as physically engaged the whole time, listening for our number and thinking about how we were going to teach our pose. It was the funnest yoga class I've ever been to. Personalities came out, we all said weird and funny things and it was a good time.

I drew the number to teach the inverted portion of the class and basically all I had to do with give some cues and let everyone do their thing. I helped one of my classmates try out a inversion prepping pose, and it reminded me of what it felt like to teach. I hadn't really been in a formal teaching position since university and it made me really glad. There is nothing more rewarding than helping someone become better than they are.

Class on Friday and Saturday were particularly exhausting. I was beginning to wonder when we were going to do more teaching and sequence learning, but today was all about both.

On another note, Saturday's class was all about back bends and I found my way into a new pose, Kapotasana. I'm pretty stoked.

Meatless Continued

It's week 6 of my teacher training and things are going really well. I thought 12+ hrs of yoga per week would be way too much and I would get frustrated without any variety in activity. Actually it's been pretty great. I'm learning about poses, how to teach with cues, a little bit of sequencing, and adjusting bodies, but mostly I'm practicing yoga. I am getting stronger, more flexible, and more balanced. Advanced poses are in the near future right after I am done rehabbing my carpal tunnel hand.

Anyway after the last post I made a more honest effort to cut meat out of my diet. I even went to Costco to search for those B12 pills in bulk. When I said that those things were 120% of your daily value, boy was I wrong. That sh*t is 41,667% of your daily value. Truth is on the label.

So I put that crap back down and bought 3lbs of almonds instead and a 6 inch wheel of Brie cheese. I also went to Trader Joe's and bought some hemp protein power to mix with milk and yogurt. Between all that, tofu and eggs I have my meat cravings down to almost never.

The past few days I was kind of surprised to find that I haven't missed meat at all. That thought made me feel pretty empowered. One less thing I have to rely on in life. I won't say there aren't times I want to eat it cause it smells good, but there have been just as many times where I don't want to eat meat because I know it will be hard for me to digest. The deeper I get into this process the less I will want to eat meat because it'll make me feel less healthy and more sluggish. Now I see why my teachers asked us to go vegetarian. It's a trap! A downward spiral into becoming hippy and I totally fell for it. Oh well too late now.

I also got a vegetarian coach. Her name is Heather and she sits about 5 cubes away. She's been giving me advice and brings some delicious food to share during lunch. This week I'm giving kale and Tofurkey a go. Steamed kale with sesame oil and tofurkey sausage with pasta is on the menu. I have to say that tofurkey is pretty good. Of course you can't expect it to taste like meat, but if you expect it to taste like tofu you'll be pleasantly surprised cause it's got a good flavor. Also on the menu is tomato soup with yogurt. The vege saga continues.

Going Vegetarian?

Before starting teacher training we got an email recommending that we all get rid of our coffee addictions and take up vegetarianism. The idea behind getting off caffeine was that a lot of poses and meditation we do will require that we be of a calm state of mind so having a stimulant in our system would hinder our ability to gain the full benefits of certain aspects of Yoga. That was fine because I don't drink coffee (thanks momma). The purpose for asking us to give up meat was in respect for all things living. We are what we eat and if we are consuming the energy of another living being it can convolute our own.

Whether I believe that or not is to be determined. Out of respect for the teachers I am trying to cut meat out of my diet. Those of you that have known me for a long time remember that vegetarianism is not unfamiliar to me, but it was only for 40 days a year. I always knew the commitment would end. But since then I've also developed really healthy habits, so I didn't doubt that this would be easy.

How wrong I was. Lol. Even though I'd been vegetarian before I was not working out as much as I do now, so the diet change has been tough. After going two or 3 days without  meat I get this weird headache and feel awkward or off kilter. Eating some sort of meat (chicken, fish, pork) cures it within 5 hours and I feel myself again. I'm aware of the typical B12 deficiency but I tried to anticipate that with a daily egg. Seems that one egg is not enough. According to the NIH I should  be eating 4 eggs a day to get the adequate amount of B12. This is my problem with vegetarianism. You have to up your intake of food/protein by almost 4 times to compensate because meat is such a dense source of nutrients. If you work out, you are eating often and a lot. So this is quite the experience with trying to find balance in the food I eat and finding time to go to the grocery store in between yoga classes. I have failed or cheated more than once (maybe >8 times >_< ) in the past 3 weeks.

I'm trying not to submit to the supplementary pill popping, but that just might happen. I don't like multivitamins because I don't need all those extra things. This is America, and I have a job. I am not malnourished so I don't need to take a pill that is 120% of all the vitamins and minerals I need. And I don't believe that I should need to take a pill when I can find some sort of delicious food to eat that has those nutrients.

The first new food I've tried is quinoa (pronounced "keenwa"). It's pretty good actually. It's supposedly a new "Super Food" that carries antioxidants and nutrients. It absorbs flavor really well too. [Picture is quinoa with onions, tomatoes, basil and vegetable broth.]

Is this vegetarianism thing gonna pan out? Probably not. I don't feel like killing animals is a bad thing and would be fine if I owned a farm and had to kill a chicken a day. But I'm trying to face this as a challenge and hopefully learn a lot more about nutrition and food along the way.

Why Yoga?

Over the past 4 years I've tried my hand at a lot of different sports: cycling, running, dance (social, modern, hip hop), Capoeira, Karate, swimming, weight lifting, etc. All of which are great workouts; you gain a skill and get strong in the process. You sweat out your stress, escape your day to day responsibilities, and return refreshed. So why am I choosing to teach Yoga over strengthening my skills any of the other sports?

Yoga is about loving yourself. Not in the stereotypical LA superficial way, but in the kind, considerate, take care of yourself before you take care of others way. I started doing this before Yoga. Catholicism challenged me to practice most of the same values: love others, treat your body as a temple, and avoid the vices (greed, envy, etc). Having a difficult person in my life helped me practice some of those virtues, like turning my anger into kindness or trying to approach a bad situation in a calm and understanding way. Since I left the religion I've held onto the same fundamental beliefs but I have missed the community. I found that community in Yoga. There is nothing like joining a group of like-minded people. What's more is that Yoga introduces and cultivates these positive moral and social habits in its practitioners without the overarching umbrella of religion. A yogi can choose to incorporate as much or as little of the beliefs as they want, but either way they will gain the benefits of strength, stability, flexibility, and calm through practice. The elongated breath, the heat you build, and the focus you work on in class translates to a calmer personality off the mat. Strength and stability build confidence and self-worth just like any other sport. I believe that anyone who practices Yoga will feel better as a person in areas of their life other than in the studio. These are a few reasons why I want to teach Yoga. 

I think the idea I love most about the philosophy is that you should pay attention to only your practice. Avoid comparing yourself to others because you will always be different and you will change from day to day. Listening to your body and your needs is the best way to getting better at Yoga. If you feel you can push yourself, then push yourself. If you feel that you need to rest, then rest. There is no judging and no right or wrong. I think once people truly accept this concept in their daily lives they can finally be comfortable in their own skin and will find some contentment or peace. Don't conform to society; find out what is good for you not what people tell you what is good for you. Ally did a talk last year about this idea and she explains it pretty well. I've included the link below and I agree with everything she said. I'm glad she's my teacher because she is definitely someone I can look up to. (I am finding inspirational teachers too, AJ! ;-D )

TEDx - Ally Hamilton

Yoga Journey

This is really becoming a journey. At the first class Ally and Charlie (the instructors) talked about how they wanted this experience to become a transformation for us. Transformation. When I first thought about that I was kind of skeptical. How would I become transformed? I'm already in a good place with who I am and what values I cherish. I know myself pretty well and take care of myself (food, exercise, lifestyle). I've spent a lot of time self reflecting, because that's who I am. I spend copious amounts of time in my head just thinking. I could sit and think for hours and not know how long it had been.

But today's class was about the philosophy of Yoga. The origins, teachings, and spirituality involved. Yoga-Sutra or yogic teachings are based upon the idea that everyone and everything is composed of energy. You are energy, I am energy, trees are energy, the stars have energy, and so on. Our energies are different depending on our emotions and actions, but energies nonetheless. I believe this because to put it simply, you feel it. You feel more energized after a good meal or a great workout. When you meet someone you feel their energy; sometimes you click well immediately and sometimes your energies create a repelling force.

Yoga is all about cleansing that energy and making it pure so that you can find a "higher self" or inner peace. In order to really find that purity you need to practice the Yoga-Sutras of which some are: compassion, truthfulness, kindness, discipline, contentment, and study. A majority of which I already practice to some extent. I have a great self awareness that helps me catch negative energy so that I can try to redirect it into positive energy. For example when get jealous over another person's beauty I can catch it and consciously stop myself and try to turn it into admiration. I am not perfect. There are definitely some areas that could use work, but having these things spelled out for me helped me identify where I could start to delve a little deeper. For instance I've been going on dates, but if someone wants to keep seeing me when I don't feel the same way I'm not always truthful in my responses. I make excuses like "I'm sorry I have plans that night" When I should just tell them that I don't think it would work out instead of leaving it open ended or just letting the silence be the answer. Silence is rude. I'm rude.

Anyway my point is that this is starting to become a journey for me. Expect more blogging in the near future. This blog might end up becoming a book like "Yoga and the Quest for the True Self". Who knows. P.S. I hear that is a really good book.

Teacher Training

So last Friday I started a 200 HR Yoga Teacher Training at Yogi's Anonymous. The teachers there are really great so I'm confident that I picked a great studio to learn from. This is their first teacher training, so you can feel them working out the kinks and trying to provide great support while being flexible. But despite that I think I'll learn a lot. I'm excited to become part of another community of like-minded people and to learn to teach something I believe in. I think I will always be teaching something in my life.

I'm hoping the community will help me break through the initial LA plastic film and get to know some great people. We have already talked about compassion and love in class so I have a good feeling about it.

So far I've had 12 hours of instruction, classroom and practice mixed together, and I'm pretty tired. Haha. I will be busier than I've been all year because on top of the training time I have to add another 4.5 hours of practice during the week plus homework. This on top of Bikerowave and regular cooking/cleaning chores will take up 90% of my free time. Finding time to work on my beater bike will be hard.

In any case I'm really happy to be doing it. 11 more weeks, here I come!

Falling into place

Things are falling into place. I'm hurriedly preparing for Cycle Oregon which is in 3 weeks. I ship my bike out next Friday, so that needs to be in order and my legs need to mostly be in order in...1 week. lol.

So 3 weeks ago I bought a new saddle and have been trying to get used to it. My first 60 mile ride on it didn't go great. It was bearable, but at the end I felt like I had bruises on my bones. Then two days later I rode and still had major bruises. Today I felt much better and mostly forgot about saddle pain which is awesome! That means I didn't have any pain. Albeit I was climbing at times so I probably only spent about 70% of the 2 hr ride in my saddle, but I'll take that. Saddle, check.

New cassette! Kevin and all his preparedness convinced me to get a new cassette. So I bought a SRAM PG-1070 11-28. Compared to my 12-26 it felt really good, especially on these hills. Luckily my shifting and chain seemed OK with the new cassette. I didn't have time to make adjustments to the derailleurs but it felt just fine. I'll check chain length later. Cassette, shifting at 90%.

I still need to play with my seat height and cleat position. My right knee was hurting, so I moved the cleat back a few millimeters and that helped a lot. No pain now, but my knee doesn't always click back into the kneecap. I'm thinking that my seat a smidge too high or too low. Seat height, cleats, at 70% complete.
Shoulders are alright but towards the end of my 25 miler today I was starting to feel pain in the middle of shoulders. I had to consciously lift myself up and that helped, so I'm not sure if that was due to poor form or being too crunched on my bike. Stretch, reach, 50%.

I think one more good long ride and a few more short ones will definitely help me get my adjustments close to good enough. I was contemplating bike fit, but I think I'll be alright without it. The hills here have made me stronger and mentally ready for what lies ahead.

Strava. I finally joined Strava. After about 2 years riding without a computer I think I was ready to see how I have been doing. Mostly I wanted to understand how certain hills feel and compare them to the grade. This way I will also be mentally prepared for the climbs on Cycle Oregon. Note: 4% grades are fine. 6% is slow but doable. 8% not fun and slower. >10% sucks balls.

Now the question remains, how will I train after my bike gets shipped off? I'll have a whole two weeks without my baby. So two plans. Plan A: Finish building that beater bike and use that for training. Plan B: Lots of Yoga. I'm gonna try for plan A but really it might not happen cause this bike is bare bones. The plus to doing lots of yoga means that I will be more prepared for yoga teacher training which starts the weekend after my ride. But really I would like to have my beater bike up and running so I can use that to get to yoga class which is gonna be 4 miles away.

I love bikes.

LA

Well friends I have moved to LA. And it is amazing.

The city is so dense and the weather is so nice that the best minds, skills, and entertainers flock out here. I found a yoga studio that teaches inversions beyond my comprehension. The yogis are so strong I don't know how I will ever get to that level.

The coaches are abundant. I've already been solicited to join a triathlon club and obtain coaching to complete my first tri.

I've already met a flock of aspiring actors and musicians. Humble in that they hope to make it big but are conscientious of life so that they don't forget to enjoy it.

If you love people. Come here. They are so diverse in mind, body and soul because half of the people that live here are from somewhere else. They are all taking life step by step and the directions are so varied that you find a new opinion around every corner.

Anyway back to bikes. I've decided that once I find time I'm going to build my fixie.

Hatha at Red Foot

This little yoga studio is right behind Cafe Brazil on Westheimer. I've passed by it a few times and finally had time to give it a try. I really like their website. It's clean and easy to navigate.

When you walk in, you can tell it used to be a home but just converted to a yoga studio. This place is TINY. I think it could fit maybe 8 people maximum? So this makes classes very intimate and you can get lots of one on one attention. It was weird at first because I'm used to big yoga classes where I can just hang out in the back, but eventually it was comfortable and everyone was friendly. Reminds me of why I like to trust people.

Anyway I had a good workout. We did Hatha yoga which is different from the flow/vinyasa I usually get. There were plenty of positions I wasn't familiar with, and Aaron, the instructor helped me correct my tendency to invert my shoulder blades instead of making them flat. Also, we tried inversions. Ahhh scary. Eventually I hope to be able to comfortable do hand stands, but I don't think I have the strength in my shoulders right now. Something to work on.

Awkward Yoga

After I recovered from my morning ride, I hopped on over to Bally for a newly established Yoga class.

Worst Yoga class I've ever been to. Worst.

Transitions from one pose to another were awkward and choppy. He wanted us to jump from pose to pose at one point. I was a rebel and just walked my feet around. RaWr. There was no flow from one muscle group to another. He would often add random things like..."oh right here loosen your hips by thrusting, and then circle" right in the middle of warrior pose. Are you for realz? Last I checked, hip thrusting is something Michael Jackson does. Not a yogi. He had us do that even though we spent the first 20 mins of class stretching the legs and hip flexors.

He didn't know names of poses. "I think this is called cow pose"

I think he made up a pose that he called "Oriental Squat". In which we were squatting they way the Chinese do it to avoid sitting on the ground or to go to the bathroom.


HAY. It looks weird and awkward, but it's SANITARY. Anyway I didn't know whether to be offended or honored that he made up this pose and named it after orientals. I think I'm more offended.

I was pretty annoyed by the end of it. My energy was not flowing anywhere but to my head, and he never gave us breathing instructions. Which is usually half the reason I like to go to Yoga. It helps me regain even breathing.

Grr. Oh well. Never going back.

No Gym This Weekend

My encounters with Bally have really been declining. Especially now since I am not here Monday through Thursday and all the classes I like to take fall on those days. Of course. Instead this weekend I went to dance, cross-fit and yoga classes. Hip-hop has been fun and mentally stimulating - most importantly fun. After this weeks class of cross-fit I think I've realized that if I signed up, it would become a chore and then I would eventually hate it. It's a good change of pace, but just alternating what kind of resistance work out you do isn't the kind of change I need in my workouts. I think I will go back to it every now and then cause it is a REALLY GOOD workout.

I have been wanting to try a good yoga class because Teresa and Lisa seemed to really like it. None of that grandma yoga stuff they have at Bally. So what better day than today? Well probably should have waited because I did xfit this morning, but I didn't want to wait a week before I could try it. I was so pumped I went and bought 2 pairs of yoga pants and a yoga mat. haha. So then I went online and found a few places. Jenn Yoga claimed to have a class at 6pm but was definitely closed when I showed up. So I did a Joy Yoga class. Joy Yoga on reliability -> A+.

Anyway this yoga was definitely challenging. No pauses for 45 mins. It wasn't even hot yoga and I was sweating like I was outside. It was weird because internally I was really hot, but the room was probably at a nice 75 degrees. We kept going back to the same poses about 50% of the time so I wasn't that mentally engaged, but I guess that's not bad because by the end I was balancing a little bit better. You know, when you see pictures of people in those crazy yoga poses, you think "oh that doesn't look bad, I can do that" but really they're freaking hard. Today I learned that I have little balance and sometimes have trouble following directions. haha.
I think I'll give it another few go's and then decide how much of a commitment I want to have with yoga. I do want my balance and flexibility to get better, so yoga is in my future but it might take a backseat like xfit. We shall see.